MLB Player News

Sardinas, as expected, won the utility job as Chris Taylor was sent to Triple-A Tacoma on Monday.

Sardinas had a great spring and is a better shortstop than Shawn O'Malley, who was demoted Sunday, and better third baseman than Taylor. He should play all over the infield and could get some time in center field, too.

Sardinas is expected to win the utility job after Shawn O'Malley was optioned to Triple-A on Sunday.

O'Malley had a big spring training -- .471 average, six walks, and four strikeouts -- but Sardinas played well too with 18 hits in 52 at-bats (.346). The third candidate, Chris Taylor, had not had a good spring (8-for-42). Sardinas plays a better shortstop than O'Malley, which was important to the team.

O'Malley was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on Sunday, Shannon Drayer of 710 AM ESPN Seattle reports.

O'Malley came up short in his efforts to win a spot as a super-utility man out of spring training, despite batting an impressive .471 and stealing five bases over 41 plate appearances in Cactus League play. It may take an injury to one of the Mariners' infielders before O'Malley gets called up to the big club.

O'Malley, who was competing for a utility job, was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on Sunday, the Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports.

Luis Sardinas is the favorite to win the utility spot. O'Malley can play outfield, third base and second base, but he was weaker at shortstop, which the Mariners prioritized. He had a good spring, with 16 hits in 34 at-bats, six walks and four strikeouts. He'll likely be called up sometime this season when injuries hit.

Bogaerts cracked a homer in Thursday's game against the Mets. He went 2-for-3 with the homer and two RBI.

Bogaerts had a nice breakout season in 2015, but with just seven homers, the power has been the last thing to develop. It's not a knock on his game, but after hitting 12 homers in 2014, we were expecting more. The Red Sox are preaching patience with the 22-year-old shortstop, who improved his batting average 80 points between 2014 and 2015 at the expense of the long ball. At some point, we hope to see both elements of offense -- a .300 hitter with 15-20 homer potential at a premium position.

The White Sox reassigned Anderson to minor league camp Thursday, the Chicago Tribune reports.

This shan't be the last we hear from Anderson this season. Although he should start the year in the high-minors, he should press for the team's starting shortstop gig early in the summer (assuming the Jimmy Rollins/Tyler Saladino combo does not impress).

Ciriaco has played his way into the utility infielder competition with a 1.036 OPS through 42 at-bats.

Ciriaco is competing with Hanser Alberto, with Alberto having an advantage of a spot on the 40-man roster, but Texas may ultimately elect to have Alberto play every day at Triple-A Round Rock and have the veteran Ciriaco remain in the majors. Neither player is expected to have a large role once the season begins.

Diaz was reassigned to minor league camp Saturday.

His opportunities were limited this spring, and Diaz will likely spend most of the season as depth at Triple-A again this year barring injury to several middle infielders ahead of him on the organizational depth chart. Diaz has hit .232/.346/.302 in parts of seven seasons at the Triple-A level.

Sardinas is hitting .406 with four doubles, one triple, one home run, 10 RBI, and two walks in 32 at-bats this spring.

Calf tightness cost him one game last week, but he's now rattled off six straight starts, knocking three extra-base hits over that stretch. A trade acquisition from Milwaukee in the offseason, Sardinas appears in line to open 2016 as the top backup at both middle-infield positions.

Red Sox manager John Farrell said Bogaerts will go back to third in the batting order for the time being, the Boston Herald reports.

Farrell experimented with Bogaerts batting cleanup for a stretch of games this week, but switched him back to the three-hole Friday. "Chance to get Bogey back in the 3-hole, where maybe he's more comfortable because of the number of at-bats in that spot last year," Farrell said. "We took an opportunity to take a look at (Bogaerts in the 4-hole), but for the time being, he'll be back in the 3-hole."